Dogs Rule!

With all due apologies to my feline loving readers (and as the proud parent of a three furry boy-cats I am one too), today’s post is dedicated to my canine girls Maggie (the chocolate Labrador retriever) and Ashley (the ebony Labrador retriever). Growing up we owned a beautiful and gentle chocolate lab, Browngirl. When the time came for me to adopt a dog I knew that I wanted a Labrador retriever too, but what I didn’t know is how different it is raising a lab as an inside dog rather than outside one. Several canine gnawed pieces of furniture, shoes, and a few emergency surgeries later I learned the difference: inside labs are eternal toddlers with razor teeth! Still I wouldn’t trade my dog proof house for a pristine, but dog free abode, because my girls rule!

If you are a canine lover too, then I would like to spotlight a few of my favorite books about dogs:

1) The Dogs Who Have Found Me by Ken Foster. This book is my all time favorite book about dogs! Ken Foster’s story of adopting and later rescuing stray canines he meets while living in New York City around the time of 9/11 is both inspirational and heartbreaking. I savored every page!

2) The Dogs I Have Met and The People They Found by Ken Foster. This is the sequel to Foster’s first book and details his adventures in rescuing dogs in New Orleans post-Katrina.

3) Rescuing Sprite by Mark Levin. This memoir to Sprite, the senior canine Levin adopts in his twilight years, is an elegant homage to the profound impact a dog can make on one’s life not matter how brief the time. I highly recommend this book to any dog owner whose dog is in poor health or who has recently lost a dog.

4) Dog Years by Mark Doty. This book is a moving tribute to the author’s life raising two dogs. As a dog owner who often travels with my dogs I have occasionally hedged the truth as to my dogs’ weight (some hotels limit dogs to certain poundage), so I cracked up at Doty’s recounting of his hotel subterfuge. When inquiring as to whether the hotel allowed dogs, Doty would ask if he could check in with one small dog, if the answer was yes, then at nightfall he checked in with his “small dog:” a golden retriever and other large breed dog!

5) Marley and Me by John Grogan. If you haven’t read Grogan’s hilarious and touching story about his life with the “crazy,” but loveable Marley, then you need to check this out from your library asap. All the reviewers are right – this is a story you don’t want to miss!